.rsd 2017

Picked up a "few" of the female artists they had in stock

A normal person after seeing two nights in a row of PJ Harvey would sleep in on their day off from concerts. No, not me. As much as I said, "Yeah I'm not doing RSD this year" I lied and had major FOMO waking up at 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Exhausted, I drove over to Tunes thinking I only had a few minutes before the store opened and would just get out of my car. Counting the people in line I was about 20th. When I finally walked over to stand in line I discovered the store doesn't open until 9:00. Another hour to kill. I texted friends most of the time or read my book. As the doors opened I was ready to find the albums I was looking for. I was also thankful I didn't have to listen to any of the obnoxious older guys in line and their colorful language to emphasize said stories.

Tunes displays all of their RSD titles on the walls of the store. I like this because it's easy to see everything and you don't have to "wait" for people to flip through crates of albums. My tops on my wishlist were The Sundays, Distillers, The Cure, Filthy Friends, Big Thief, and Priests. The Cure was the first album I snagged. The albums themselves are just beautiful with Robert Smith adorned in starry backgrounds. Frantic I kept searching for The Distillers but to no avail! Thankfully I looked carefully and noticed the cover was different from the one posted on the RSD site. I nabbed the LAST COPY of Coral Fang. How lucky! Then making my way to the 7"s I only saw Patti Smith and Against Me! Waiting in line I texted my friend who was at the record stores in Philly. She managed to pick me up Filthy Friends and Priests. Neither of us could find the Big Thief 7" and NO ONE had The Sundays. Mad because some of the guys in front of me had copies in their hands. All of a sudden near the door I noticed on the display table of books was Laura J Grace's "Tranny" which I picked up immediately. As the line wrapped around the other side of the store I kept eyeing up this boxed set of Sex Pistols singles from the UK and US. Finally caving in I decided to buy it since the set would make an awesome collector's item someday. My grand total came to a little under $200 along with a free cd sampler, poster, and tote bag. A bit more than I wanted to spend but at least left happy after 40 minutes of standing in line. This is bad since I already ordered a ton of albums off "Vinyl Me Please" but these are rare releases so it's all good. Just wish there were more FEMALE bands represented during RSD. A whopping 12% which is ridiculous. We need to do better!

.priests @ everybody hits

My woman crush in action

Priests are a punk / riot grrrl band from Washington DC that formed back in 2012. The band consists of Katie Alice Greer on vocals, Daniele on drums and back-up vocals, Taylor on bass and back-up vocals, and GL Jaguar on guitar (he's freaking phenomenal). I have been obsessed with them since 2014 when they opened for The Dismemberment Plan. This is the first time I would see them headline so hooray!

Their new album "Nothing Feels Natural" dropped at the end of January. Since I wanted an element of "surprise" I didn't listen to any of the songs ahead of time. I figured I'd purchase the album after their set and would automatically like what I heard. Of course this was very true and so much more.

Bands Ursula and Snail Mail opened. Each unique in their own way one more angry / edgy, the other more like Sunflower Bean in their sound. Katie came out in almost a prom dress ensemble with boots. My friend complimented her ensemble and she said she hoped dancing around would make her less cold.

Katie in the moment

The band basically played almost all the songs off of their new album. The only two older songs I remember hearing off their first album was "Right Wing" and "And Breeding." She cleverly changed the lyrics in that song to "Fuck Donald Trump! I'm gonna get him for it!" Their new album should really be an anthem for 2017. I equate Katie to the likes of Nadya Tolokonnikova from Pussy Riot. She's very politically aware and not only a musician but an activist in my eyes. On the mic she's very intimidating and powerful (several times I thought she was going to crash into us during the performance!) but behind the merch table she is very sweet and soft spoken. There was a cool moment when the lead singer of Snail Mail and her friend started skanking during Priests set. Katie encouraged it. Katie also had a moment when she climbed on top of the drum kit and played around with the hanging lights. 

Sadly I didn't have a lot of cash on me and just purchased their album. The zine for sale looked pretty amazing though. I told Katie I saw them open for Ought at PhilaMoca and she said, "Thanks for coming back!" Ahhhh I love her. Today I played their new album non-stop. My favorite stand-out tracks are: Nicki, No Big Bang, Suck, and Nothing Feels Natural. The whole album is mind-blowing. I have a soft spot for their first album but this one exceeded all expectations. I highly recommend all my Sleater-Kinney fans to check out Priests. Lance Bangs is a fan so I'm assuming Corin is on board too. Here are some more shots from the show....

.priests

In 2014 I saw Priests open for The Dismemberment Plan at the Bowery Ballroom. While some of the audience was quite intimidated with their "in your face" demeanor, I really enjoyed their set. When I leave concerts and bands make me "think" about their performance days later, well that just speaks volumes for me. I tend to investigate further. Katie is a dynamic front woman with her raw voice and command of the stage. In November of 2015 I missed my chance to see them at The Church. When I heard they were opening for Ought, I was on it. 

Katie told us she lost her voice and was slowly regaining it back. Still they sounded amazing. After the show I briefly talked to Taylor and rehashed what I said above about discovering them in 2014. It made me SO HAPPY to finally have their LP in my hands. Actually I nabbed the last copy of their debut ep. The merch lady literally had to peel off the tape holding it down on the table. It was the last last one. Ha! I did not get a set list but they played my favorites "And Breeding" and "Doctor." Their new songs sounded amazing as their band continues to progress. On Instagram I follow Katie and was over the moon her birthday is the day after mine. Taurus women! She actually liked one of my pictures I took of the band. It was a very cool moment for me.

Ought was okay. Like I said I was only there for Priests. Ought had a lot of fervent followers, mostly bros. The most aggravating thing of the night was this 20-something drunk girl who kept swinging her arms haphazardly all over the place to the point of hitting me in the head a few times. She pushed her way in front of me with her man in tow as her seat belt. The drummer of Ought just gave me this look and I rolled my eyes. We were thinking the same thing. Towards the middle of Ought's set the lead singer actually called out drunk girl! He claimed her hand movements were distracting and how she needed to back up. Touche! However, this did not stop her. She also enjoyed punching / rough housing with her man and at one point missed and ended up almost decking me in the leg. Seriously control your out-of-control girlfriend! Watching her was like watching a 5 year-old on a sugar rush. I'm saving this for a separate post of things that aggravate me at shows, more on this later. Overall Priests rock and my mission is to get as many people into their music as I can. Recently I made mixes for 7 friends so don't be surprised if I pop one of their songs on your track listing ;)